The land of the Hittites

by John Garstang

The face carved upon the sphinxes may be that of the royal and priestly law-giver who dwelt within the palace which they guarded, or it may be a conventional type; upon that point there is no evidence. We have disclaimed any Egyptian motive in these sphinxes on general grounds, but there are found two curious and unexplained resemblances when we come to consider the facial type portrayed and the manner in which it is adorned. The one is in the portrait-statue[600] of Nefret, a queen of Egypt in the middle of the twelfth dynasty (before or about 2000 B.C.) a sculpture which represents a type exceptional, indeed almost unique, in Egyptian art. There is something to be borne in mind, however, in making a comparison, namely, that this statue may have been carved in the Delta, and that ancient monuments of Lower Egypt are so rare that their standard character is little known. Hence it is not certain whether this peculiar monument merely reproduces a type of which no other examples have survived, or whether it was itself worked from a model strange even to the Delta. In the latter case the interesting explanation offers itself, that perhaps as early as the twelfth dynasty the Egyptian kings intermarried with Mesopotamian or Hittite princesses, as was done during the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties. The other resemblance is found in an Etruscan monument,[601] which presents a general similarity in subject and treatment at once striking and noteworthy.

Turning now to the reliefs that adorn the frontage-walls, it is seen that, as at Iasily Kaya, two main series are opposed to one another in the composition of the whole. In both the main themes are religious. On the left-hand side the shrine of a Bull is represented, with priest and priestess and attendants bringing up smaller animals to be sacrificed. On the right-hand side the centre of worship appears as an enthroned goddess, twice depicted; and other stones in the row are decorated with a bull and lion of magnificent proportions. The cult-deity occupies in each case the naturally prominent place, namely, the front face of the corner-stones on either side, facing towards the worshippers and others who follow in their train.

The bull (a), the object of adoration on the left, stands on a panelled pedestal with projecting cornice. His dewlap, hair, full chest, and heavy shoulders are delineated, and he seems to bear some special marks upon his flank and quarter. His generative organs are represented, but not in exaggeration when allowance is made for the tendency of old-time sculptors to enlarge on details. He stands the emblem of earthly strength and virility; and it is reasonable to infer from his counter-position to the Mother-goddess, that he here separately embodies the essentially masculine powers of her divine consort, with whom indeed he seems to have been originally identified.[602]

In front of the bull, the nearest object, on the next stone, may be taken for an altar, the precise form of which, however, is not apparent. It was presumably round. Its pedestal narrows towards the top, and is crossed by lateral bands, the alternate ones being decorated by transverse lines in alternating series.[603] The figure who leads the worshippers is the priest-king, a type familiar in the sculptures of Boghaz-Keui and Malatia, only here he lacks the winged emblem which seems in the former case to denote his sovereignty. Here, however, his dignity at the head of the procession is apparent. He wears the same skull-cap, toga-like robe, earrings, and shoes with upturned toes. In his right hand is the reversed lituus, while his left, with the thumb prominent, is stretched out towards the altar. He is followed or accompanied by a female, the chief priestess, his queen. We do not hesitate in this identification, derived from general considerations, because this office is associated with the queen in the description of the seal of the treaty concluded between the Hittite and Egyptian kings[604] to which we have previously alluded. Her dress is interesting. She wears a skirt with oblique curving pleats, and tightly fitting vest. Her hair seems to descend behind as a pigtail almost to the ground, though some stray plaits may be seen also falling over the ear. The earring is plain: so too are the turned-up points of her shoes. The arms are in a curious position, and not easy to trace upon the stone: it seems probable, however, that the left one is folded under the right, and that it rests near the elbow upon a staff, which may be seen to be inclined thence obliquely towards the left foot, which is advanced. The head of this staff is not visible, and it cannot be said, therefore, whether it resembles those used similarly by the priestesses in the right-hand series of sculptures at Iasily Kaya;[605] it may be seen, however, to be decorated by a series of short transverse parallel lines down its whole length. The head-dress is broken away. The face of this figure also is not well preserved, but it may be seen to resemble that of the leader in the straightness of the nose, which is in line with the receding forehead, a feature repeated too deliberately and too often to be accounted for merely as a defect in drawing.[606]

Then here follows a gap from which a smaller stone is missing; to have escaped from the joggles that fixed it in position it must have been broken, and has so disappeared.[607] The third stone (c) is well filled by a scene representing a ram and three sheep led forward by a man as to the sacrifice. The latter holds the ram by the horns, and two of the sheep appear as an upper register, in the usual convention which was intended to convey the impression of distance; by this arrangement it is possible that a flock of sheep is symbolised, as suggested by M. Perrot, but it is noticeable that the number of animals is the same as the number of priest-shepherds (or attendants), of whom three more are shown following this group on the next stone (d). These are clad uniformly in similar fashion to their leader, and the only feature in this respect that distinguishes them from the chief priest is the fall of their cloaks, which ends almost in a point behind the foot. One hand of each is raised before the face, but the other is employed differently in each case. The leading attendant, it was noted, grasps the horn of one of the animals. The first figure of the group that follows (d) seems to be holding a cord or whip, the continuation of which cannot, however, be traced on the stone in front. The second holds up an object which is worn away at the top, but ends below, level with his elbow, in an outward curl. The last is represented similarly with both hands raised, but nothing can now be seen to have been held by them. The head of this figure, too, is almost wholly obliterated.

Then follows, on the fourth stone, one of the most curious representations of the series. This consists of two small figures of men, one of whom is mounting a ladder of twenty rungs, which rises obliquely from the ground-level and ends at two-thirds of the height of the stone. M. Perrot suggests that these were clowns, which seems to be an unnecessary complication: it is more natural to suppose that there is here commemorated some scene familiar in the rites, or in the representation of them. The men are clad in short tunics, and other details noticeable in their dress are the helmet-like hat[608] of the man upon the ladder, the skull-cap and earrings of the other, the girdle-knot of both. The position of their hands is very curious and interesting, and enables us to divine with some certainty the real meaning of the group. In the several photographs before us,[609] taken from different points of view in different lights, we get (as is commonly the case) a comparative effect of great assistance in eliminating the unessential features on the stone. It may be seen[610] that the man upon the ladder is not holding the ladder in order to climb up higher. There is plain to careful scrutiny of the photograph a small thin implement projecting below the clenched hand, which is just clear of the ladder near the top. The right hand is raised aloft and grasps a rounded implement (more clearly seen in another picture), in a natural attitude of striking a blow. He is working with a chisel and mason’s hammer; it must be the simplicity of the interpretation that has so long deferred it. Now the courses of this wall are about four feet in height,[611] so that a ladder of ordinary tread with twenty rungs would rest approximately against the fourth course or the fifth. If the man stood about the middle of the ladder, which was nearly twice his own height, as is suggested in the picture, he would be working on the third or fourth course, or at the equivalent height. In either case it is implied that he is dressing the wall face, as was commonly done after the blocks had been fitted, and this being a last stage of the building, the completion of the palace is commemorated by the sculpture. The possibility that the sculptor here represents himself at work, as was not unknown in Oriental mural decorations, seems to be excluded by several considerations, the first being the use of a long ladder, which would have been unnecessary even for a second course of sculptures, and the second the absence of any design on that part of the stone where the chisel is at work. The figure standing on the ground-level is seen to be at work in similar fashion upon the lowest courses; he is represented in the act of striking his blow, the hammer being in contact with the chisel.[612]

PLATE LXXIII

EYUK: SHRINE OF THE MOTHER-GODDESS

Sculpture decorating right frontage of palace entrance. (See [p. 262].)